


Don't Want to Know the Other Side of a World Without You

by MarvelMerlin



Series: soulmate AUs [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Behavior, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-typical language, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Soulmates, gavin and connor are soulmates, oblivion is android afterlife, only your soulmate can hurt you, only your soulmate can kill you, rk900 is the bad guy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:53:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29028255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarvelMerlin/pseuds/MarvelMerlin
Summary: Gavin Reed knows he has a soulmate. He knows because he's never died, not even gotten a single bruise. Until the Evidence Locker.Until Connor.Connor remembers waking up, learning from his friends and the internet about soulmates, and piecing together that Gavin's his.RK900 was released by CyberLife with one objective: Kill deviants, especially RK800.
Relationships: Connor/Gavin Reed
Series: soulmate AUs [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2129547
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	Don't Want to Know the Other Side of a World Without You

**Author's Note:**

> beta and proofed by Emrys (oswiniarty) as per usual.
> 
> I'm only sort of sorry.

Gavin was sure, was 100% sure, he had a soulmate. 

Because he _couldn’t die_.

His shitstain of a father had shot bullets into his head, and they’d bounced right off. He’d been hit by cars, and the cars had been totaled. 

He couldn’t die, he couldn’t get hurt, and he felt _invincible_.

He became an adrenaline junkie; jumping out of planes without a parachute and landing in one piece completely fine, jumping off Niagara Falls just for the fun of it.

He became a cop _specifically_ because he _knew_ he couldn’t get hurt. Odds were 1 in 10 _billion_ that his soulmate would be the one holding the gun, so he felt pretty damn safe.

He was always first through the door, only wearing tack gear because it was the identifier. He was reckless to a fault.

So when he saw the android Hank had been assigned to heading to the evidence lockup, and had given a _really_ see through answer, he’d followed.

And got his ass beat.

And then hid out in Tina’s apartment, with his cats, his best friend and her wife, while the revolution unfolded. 

And he didn’t talk about it. 

So when an android/human relations liaison from Jericho showed up at Tina’s door, he wasn’t exactly thrilled to hear their offer.

“Why the _fuck_ do you want _me_?” He asked, glaring at the android.

“Connor requested you, he said that for all your,” the android mimicked Connor’s voice, “‘Asshole blustering, he knows what he’s doing.’”

“Bullshit,” Gavin muttered.

“What do you need him for anyways?” Tina asked, perched on her sofa’s arm.

“Just before the end of the revolution, CyberLife activated an advanced prototype android to attempt to assassinate Markus and Connor. That android is, still, unaccounted for.”

Gavin frowned. “How do you know it’s even still in the city?”

“It’s undeviated, it will not be able to leave without completing its missions.”

“You wanted your independence so bad, figure out your own problems.” Gavin held the door open for the android. “Have a fucking great day,” he said, with forced cheeriness and an equally forced smile.

The android turned and left, and Gavin slammed the door shut behind him.

“You didn’t need to be- Actually, no. This is you. You _have_ to be a dick,” Tina sighed.

Gavin clicked his tongue and finger-gunned at his best friend. “You know me!”

Tina chucked a pillow at his head. “You can’t stay locked up in here forever, you know.”

“Watch me bitch,” Gavin retorted before draining the rest of the coffee.

He definitely shouldn’t have finished the coffee, he thought as he lay awake at 3am, staring at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep on Tina’s couch. He _also_ couldn’t stop thinking about the would-be case.

So, when 8am rolled around, and Valerie made a fresh pot of coffee, Gavin filled a travel mug and grabbed his jacket.

He heard Tina sit down at the table, and without looking back he said, “Tina, stop looking at me in that tone of voice.”

And he left the apartment, hailing an autotaxi, and heading to the refurbished CyberLife tower. 

He walked into the bright white interior and glared. 

“Hello Detective,” a voice, equal parts familiar and infuriating said from the side.

“Plastic,” Gavin greeted Connor, who had ditched the CyberLife branded jacket in favour of a white t-shirt and a blue flannel, the dress pants exchanged for jeans, and the dress shoes for boots.

“I assume you’re here because you couldn’t stop thinking about the case Erik laid out for you yesterday.”

Gavin didn’t respond, choosing instead to take a long, drawn out sip of his coffee. 

Connor smiled, and unlike the past handful of times Gavin had seen the android smile with lifeless, cold eyes, he was _genuinely_ smiling.

“Follow me, Detective,” Connor instructed, walking down the central path to the elevator.

“So what _actually_ happened? Ya know, beyond the prototype being activated and said prototype being MIA.”

“As you know, on November 11, our peaceful revolution was successful. _However_ , before my infiltration of CyberLife, two last androids were activated. RK800 mark 60-”

“A Connor bot.”

“Yes, he was designed as part of my revival matrix, however he uploaded my memories to the point of luring Hank here to stop me from activating and deviating the androids in storage.” Connor entered the elevator, and Gavin followed close behind. “Floor 32.”

“Voice recognition successful, thank you RK800, thr- Connor,” the friendly, feminine elevator voice responded.

The doors shut and Connor continued, “The second android was the RK900, a prototype military android designed for combat in the arctic. Before the revolution, the State Department ordered several hundred thousand based on the actions of a single prototype. RK900 is unlike any android CyberLife ever designed. It’s been given, quite literally, almost all the programming CyberLife had. Including mine.”

“So it’s a Connor bot on steroids?”

Connor shook his head, grinning. “Are you intent on oversimplifying _everything_?”

“I got a limited memory bank that can’t be extended, Con,” Gavin sipped his coffee, smirking. “Gotta save space for the important shit.”

“And what exactly do _you_ qualify as important?”

“Things worth noticing.” Gavin gestured to the board holding the floor numbers. “Like the fact that your name is added as an afterthought, in place of what I _assume_ used to be your serial number. And the fact that you keep looking up at the camera in the top corner like you’re expecting it to explode.”

“It won’t _explode_ , Detective.” If Gavin didn’t know better, he’d think Connor sounded _amused_.

“And the way all the androids in the main entrance stare at you like you’re the fucking second coming.”

“You should see how they look at Markus.” Connor’s smile dropped a little as he shifted his weight slightly. “Many of the androids here, and in the rest of the city, are afraid of me. Still. Doesn’t help that wherever RK900 is, he has my face.”

“So we’re searching for your evil twin.”

“Oversimplification. But I suppose, yes.” Connor turned away from the glass window to face the doors as they approached their floor. “In an effort of full transparency, you should know that RK900 and I share a handler. I see what he sees. His missions, minus subtasks, are also mine.”

“So his mission to kill you and Markus-”

“Are on my HUD at all times. I already nearly killed him _once_ , and I barely survived _that_.” Connor looked over at Gavin. “In the wrong hands, someone could use the AI handler to attempt to undeviate me. I do not know if it would be successful, and I hope to never find out.” Connor looked back at the door. “And I apologize for the evidence room. I was partially deviant, and partially not. Either way, I was not thinking rationally, or really thinking at all.”

Gavin looked away and finished his coffee in silence.

Connor either hadn’t figured out what it _meant_ , or he assumed that Gavin didn’t have a soulmate.

And Gavin wasn’t in a rush to correct him.

They stepped out on floor 32, and Gavin rolled his eyes.

“Honestly, you overthrew your capitalist overlords and you don’t even _paint_ their old HQ?” 

“Painting’s less important than finding an android still forced to follow said overlord’s murderous agenda,” a woman answered with a glare, crossing her arms.

Connor cleared his throat. “Detective Reed, this is North. A member of the leadership here. North, Detective Reed is here to-”

“To help find the murderous evil Connor bot,” Gavin interrupted. “Please tell me there's coffee here. I didn’t sleep.”

“Hank’s trying to figure one out. He refuses to read the instructions,” Connor sighed. 

_‘If Hank’s here why do you need me?’_ Gavin thought, though out loud he said, “if there isn’t coffee in twenty minutes I’m _going_ to pass out.”

“Feel free to argue with the old man, I gave up.” North shrugged and stepped into the elevator. “Connor, 11, don’t forget this time.”

“I won’t, North.” Connor rolled his eyes and turned down a hallway.

“Look at Connor, plastic cop to plastic celebrity,” Gavin teased.

Connor didn’t answer, looking to the side.

“What’s at 11?” Gavin asked, trying to change the subject.

“Jericho council. North, Simon, Josh and Markus talk about the shit the president’s trying to pull, then argue for an hour over how to handle it, and then North and Markus simmer all angry for an hour until Simon smoothes everything out.”

“And why are you going?”

Connor stopped in front of a door and looked at Gavin. “Did you _see_ Markus’ final speech on the 11th?”

“Bits and pieces, why?”

Connor crossed his arms, almost self-consciously. “The people that stood behind him became Jericho leadership.”

“North, and the other two you mentioned?”

“Simon and Josh, yeah.” Connor shrugged. “And for some reason, me.”

“ _You_?” Gavin looked at Connor, his eyes wide.

“You don’t need to sound _that_ surprised,” Connor grumbled.

Gavin held his hands in the air. “I just... I wouldn’t think you’d end up as leadership.”

“Don’t have a choice,” Connor leaned against the wall. “Markus asked, I couldn’t exactly say _no_ -”

“You can always say _no_ , Connor. That’s what the whole fucking revolution was _about_ , wasn’t it?”

“Oversimplifying again.”

“I don’t think so.” Gavin rolled his eyes when Connor _still_ looked a little lost. “You wanted the choice to _say no_. A human tells you to... I dunno,” Gavin smirked slightly, “get them coffee.” Connor smiled a little. “You wanted the choice to say no, and not be punished for it.”

“And if the leader of said revolution asks you to be a part of the governance structure for your people after coming out of the _most_ traumatic events of your _very_ short life, and you haven’t even had time to _realize_ that it was fucking traumatic...” Connor took a deep breath, stopping his rambling and evening out his voice. “No wasn’t an option at the time, and it isn’t an option now.”

Gavin opened his mouth to say something else, but Connor opened the door and walked into the room.

“ _Oh thank fuck_ ,” Gavin said, taking in the deep purple of the paint on the walls. “It’s not _fucking white_.”

“ _Told you_ ,” Connor said, rounding the desk in the open room, looking at the coffee maker sitting on the counter. “Still isn’t working?”

Hank’s frustrated voice came from under the desk. “ _No_ , Connor. Like the last 500 times-”

“12. 12 times.”

“ _Whatever_ . It’s still not working. It’s still _too slow_.”

“If you would just let me-”

“I _got this_ ,” Hank interrupted, “I don’t need some _stupid_ manual to tell me how this shit works.” Hank looked over and spotted Gavin, still lingering in the doorway. “Oh look, the asshole’s back.”

“Hank,” Gavin replied tensely. 

Connor cleared his throat, “Detective, why don’t you come into the main office and I can pull up what we know about RK900 so far.”

Gavin followed Connor, ignoring the glare Hank was sending his direction.

“I’m sorry, for him. He’s just-”

“Connor, he’s been like this for years. Just because he’s not totally off the rails with you around doesn’t mean he’s an angel.” Gavin sat down in one of the chairs, putting his feet up on the desk. “Humans aren’t perfect.”

Connor looked to the computer, his LED spinning yellow for a moment, and the screen on the wall activated, showing Connor’s HUD.

In the bottom right corner, were two missions.

_Eliminate RK200, Designation: Markus_

_Eliminate RK800, Designation: Connor_

On the main portion were files, all branded with CyberLife’s logo. 

“A lot of the RK900 files are redacted, and the firewall is designed to be unhackable by androids, so we’re stuck with the published stuff and the few lines per page that _aren’t_ redacted.”

“Are they password locked?”

“We’ve tried all known passwords, nothing unlocks them.”

“So,” Gavin leaned back in the chair, “what you’re saying is we know what this thing looks like, what it’s number is, and that it’s supposedly got a shit ton of programing, but other than that we’re flying blind.”

Connor shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. “We know that he’s supposedly deviancy proof, but so was I.”

Gavin shook his head. “With you CyberLife tried to walk the line, giving you enough room to feel without really _feeling_ at all. You were always semi-deviant, but not enough that you wouldn’t follow your mission, just enough that you’d be unpredictable. With it,” he gestured to the files on the screen, “We have no idea.”

“So what, we just wait around for him to show up somewhere, _possibly_ kill me or Markus, and _hope_ we learn from it?” Connor frowned. “That’s a _really_ bad plan.”

“No,” Gavin slid his phone from his pocket, “We get the password.”

“What are you-” Gavin held up his hand as the phone rang.

“‘Ello?”

“Eli, hey. What’s your CyberLife password?”

“Uh... Why?”

“Murderous android shit. You gonna tell me?”

“Serenity24, why do you-” Gavin pulled over the keyboard and keyed in the password, the loading bar popping up as it retrieved the un-redacted files. 

“Thanks bro, glad you’re not dead!” he ended the call.

“Who- How- _What?_ ” Connor stammered. 

Gavin shrugged. “My brother’s got high level clearance at CyberLife. Well, _had_.”

“You have a brother?”

“You’ve _met_ him, Connor.” Gavin opened the first of the unredacted files.

“I have?” 

Gavin turned to look at Connor over his shoulder. “My brother’s Elijah Kamski, Connor. He’s got the highest clearance of anyone, and they couldn’t wipe him from their system without losing the designs for androids.”

“Your brother’s _Elijah Kamski_? Actually, that... That makes a scary amount of sense.” Connor shivered and turned back to the files, his LED spinning yellow as he downloaded them into his mind.

“What did he do?” Gavin asked with a sigh, beginning to go through the files.

“What do you mean?”

“I know that look. Elijah’s... He’s fucked up. People get that look,” Gavin gestured to Connor’s face, “when he has them do something. Usually testing some sort of theory he has.”

“He put my mission against my emerging empathy. Promised to tell us everything he knew about deviancy if I shot an android point blank.” Connor’s LED blinked red for a moment before returning to yellow. “I couldn’t do it.”

“Well, he doesn’t know anything about deviancy. Who did he point your gun at?”

“My scan indicated the original Chloe-”

“He _what_?” Gavin turned away from the files to look at Connor.

“He promised me information about deviancy if I shot the first android to pass the Turing test.”

Gavin pulled out his phone again. This time the phone only rang once.

“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ELI!”

“Hello to you too-”

“ _Don’t_ pull the ‘politeness’ shit right now. _You had the deviant hunter point a gun at Chloe_.”

“It was a wonderful test-”

“I don’t _care_ if it was a wonderful test, you had him point a _gun_ at _Chloe_ and told him to _shoot her_ . You don’t _actually own her, Eli._ You never _have_.”

“Just because you insisted on-”

“ _Eli_ , don’t get smart with me.”

“Gavin, this is an extremely overwhelming reaction for something that happened months ago.”

“You _pointed a gun_ at the _woman we created to look like Mom_ . Of _course_ I’m _fucking pissed_.”

“Several _hundred_ androids look like Mother, it’s nothing to be upset about.”

“You know _just as well as I do_ that it _isn’t the fucking same_.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, she’s no longer here. She moved into her own apartment in Detroit. I don’t have her anymore.”

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

“Strongly dislike, will strangle some day.”

“I’ll take it. Goodbye, brother dearest.” Elijah ended the call.

“I’m sorry, Detective. I’m... lost.”

“Hm?”

“The RT600 in Mr. Kamski’s house, and the subsequent ST200s-”

“Were based on our mom, yea. She died when we were... 14?” Gavin returned to looking through the files. “Thanks for not killing her.”

“I’m sorry. For your mother.”

Gavin shrugged. “It’s how I know the soulmate bullshit’s true.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Her case file’s probably in your head somewhere, it was a DPD case. Her soulmate killed her.”

“Oh.” Connor said quietly.

“Yeah, _oh_ . My dad was a piece of _shit_.”

“Was?”

Gavin sighed. “We still _age_ , we still _die_. But we can’t be killed or hurt by anyone but our soulmate. Dad ODed, then his organs started to fail.”

“I confess I’m not... Familiar, with soulmates as a concept. Beyond what I know from Markus and Simon and North and Josh.” Connor’s LED spun blue for a moment as he closed one set of files and opened another. “I know that it’s slightly different for androids.”

“Different how?”

“Well, undeviated, we don’t have _souls_ , if that's even the right word. Undeviated, Markus, North, Josh and Simon could all _individually_ be killed by others. We also have the workaround.” Connor tapped the centre of his chest, the soft blue circle of his regulator glowing through the material as he tapped. “Our bodies are easier to tear apart. Without this, we can’t function so we shut down, but because we could be reactivated we haven’t _died_.”

“There’s a definition of android _death_?” 

“Legally, yes. We’ve had to lay shit out.” Connor sighed. “If an android is murdered beyond the point of _safe_ repair and reactivation, their consciousness can’t be transferred to another body, even _if_ another body could be found. If an android shuts down because of lack of thirium, it’s more like they’ve gone unconscious, therefore reactivation is legal. Same with thirium pumps and thirium pump regulators. So long as the connectors and area _surrounding_ the bio components can either be safely repaired _or_ replaced, reactivation is possible.

“Unless the dead android made it clear, in writing physically or digitally, that they did not wish to be reactivated. Those function like a DNR.”

“That’s... A lot. And complicated.”

Connor rubbed his face. “Yeah, I don’t _just_ avoid the meetings to avoid the soulmate love-fest that is the four of them. It’s also _ridiculously_ boring. Humankind has had _literal millenia_ to set their rights, their _rules_ out. And now we have to figure out how to apply them to us.”

“Why don’t you just copy/paste?”

“Because androids _aren’t human_ . We’re people but we’re not human, and defining that distinction...” Connor gestured to the files. “ _This_ is the closest I get to detective work now. Hank has other androids and humans that volunteered to help enforce the law in the city, he says I’ve got my hands full running this place...”

“You don’t even _want_ to run Jericho.”

“The want of one outweigh-”

“Connor,” Gavin looked at the android, “part of being a person is putting yourself first sometimes. It doesn’t make you a shitty person.”

“That’s not exactly an easy thing to do post-revolution.”

“Well, what _do_ you do?”

Connor’s LED spun to blue and his eyes focused on Gavin. “Sit and listen to people when they walk up to me because they know me and want to ask a question. Listen to Hank talk about cases he won’t let me work on. Enter stand-by and stasis when I get particularly bored and play chess against the AI version of me I created to play chess against to continue to develop my logistical-”

“That is _the most boring life_ I’ve ever heard of.” Gavin held his arms out. “What do you do _for fun_?”

“I told you, play chess-”

“That’s not _fun_ . Things you _enjoy,_ Connor.”

Connor thought for a moment, LED spinning yellow then back to steady blue. “Walk Sumo. Run through preconstructions from old cases.”

“You’re bored out of your goddamn mind most of the time, aren’t you?”

Connor sighed, “ _Desperately so_.”

“Okay, you’re coming to Tina’s tonight, and we’re finding a game to play, and you’re _going_ to have fun.” Gavin pulled out his phone, texting this plan to Tina.

“Detective, I couldn’t impose-”

“Can you _not_ be overly polite for once?” Gavin looked up at Connor, who was frowning. “Connor, you’re not _imposing_ , you’re being _invited_.”

“Are you sure Officer Chen wouldn’t mind?”

Gavin shook his head. “She says ‘so long as he doesn’t overanalyse and beat our asses in twenty minutes’. Also checking if you eat pizza.” 

Connor smiled slightly, crossing his arms. “I can consume small portions of food but it provides no gain beyond analysis. And I’ll do my best.”

A speaker on the desk beeped for a moment before North’s voice was heard, “Connor, it’s 11:05, where are you?”

Connor sighed, his LED spinning yellow as his eyes glossed over, “I’m on my way.” His LED spun back to blue and he refocused on Gavin. “Please, feel free to stay and go through the rest of the files.”

Gavin mock saluted and returned to looking at the files as Connor exited.

Connor stepped into the elevator. “Level 44.” 

“Voice recognition successful, thank you RK800, thr- Connor,” the elevator voice chimed.

Gavin was right. When they’d taken over CyberLife’s abandoned center of operations, figuring out how to get the voice recognition to pick up their own voices, and their own _names,_ had been a struggle. It had been simpler to leave the model number and modify the serial number to hold their names instead. 

Didn’t stop him, or every other android he knew, from flinching ever so slightly when the voice started to say their serial numbers. 

He hadn’t exactly expected Gavin to come running the second he asked, he knew Gavin well enough to know he wouldn’t, but seeing Erik return without the Detective did make Connor’s thirium pump twist.

_‘Heads up, this is a presidential audience, several secretaries including the SoS are going to be attending as well.’_ Markus’ message from earlier appeared on Connor’s HUD, and he sighed.

“You’re late, Connor,” Josh noted as he stepped off the elevator. Gone were the layers of jackets chosen to make him blend in, Josh regularly wore sweater vests with increasingly complex patterns and glasses he didn’t need.

Connor fell into step beside his friend. “In my defense, I didn’t _willfully_ ignore the time. We managed to unencrypt the RK900 files.”

“We?”

“Detective Reed appeared this morning, as expected. Though he and Hank seem to have a... _worsened_ relationship since the revolution.”

Connor grabbed one handle of the double doors while Josh grabbed the other, and the two of them walked into the main office.

The walls were glass windows, overlooking Detroit and the trees that were starting to bud in the early spring. At the centre of the room was a u-shaped glass table with five chairs around it and a screen on the wall the chairs faced. 

The seal of the President of the United States sat static on the screen.

“What is this one about?” Connor asked as he took his seat. 

Markus had stuck to the trench-coated revolutionary archetype, though he’d strayed away from emblazoning the revolution’s symbol on everything he wore. North had _fully_ embraced stealing clothes from her partners and friends, rarely buying or wearing anything of her own. She sat in one of Simon’s old sweaters that she’d cropped over a shirt that looked _suspiciously_ like one Connor had lost while trying to do laundry. Simon looked the most professional of them all, he’d become the media talking head for Jericho, and he’d taken the stats regarding appearance to heart. Button-downs in thirium blue, hair styled messily, and occasionally dress shoes, though more often than not he wore plain black sneakers.

“I don’t know, she insisted, though,” Markus rubbed his temple. “This woman is...”

“A bitch?” North suggested helpfully.

“ _North_ , please don’t refer to the president as a bitch,” Simon chided.

North stuck her tongue out at him and Connor shook his head fondly.

“Not going to get re-elected, most likely,” Josh said, taking his seat between Connor and Markus.

“One can hope.” Markus tapped the table and the glass thrummed to life, screens turning on in front of all five of them. “Ready?”

Connor sighed “Are we ever?” and pressed the connect button on the table in front of him, the others following suit.

The seal on the wall faded and several humans sat at the dark wood table on screen, President Warren sat at the head of the table, hands clasped on the table in front of her.

“Markus, I see you’ve brought your _advisors_ ,” the President greeted.

“They aren’t my _advisors_ , President Warren. This is the Jericho council, we work _together_ to work to better the world for our people,” Markus’ voice was cold. “North works to ensure the security of the city, Josh works to find historical precedent for the laws we are creating, Simon works with the media to ensure we are accurately represented, and Connor works with the emerging law enforcement. They are just as integral to running Jericho as I am.”

The President nodded and introduced the members of the cabinet who were in attendance.

“What is this meeting about, President Warren?” Markus asked, leaning forward.

“We’ve encountered a bit of a _bump_ in the process in regards to amending the Constitution,” The President replied. 

“What is it _this time_?” North asked, glaring slightly at the screen.

“The Soulmate amendment,” she looked at the file in front of her, raising it slightly as she began to read from it, “‘Those with soulmates are required to provide adequate evidence proving that they cannot be harmed by others to claim the official status.’” She looked back up at them. “As you’ve said, it is difficult to _prove_ that androids can have soulmates, which makes it difficult to prove that they have, in the conventional sense, a soul.”

“Official status does nothing but make it easier to arrest soulmates when one of the pair dies in seemingly suspicious circumstances,” Connor spoke up, “The laws we are rewriting have nothing to do with-”

“There are those, in this room and beyond,” one of the Secretaries, the secretary of _education_ Connor recalled, interrupted, “that believe that without concrete evidence of the existence of souls within deviants, that there is no _personhood_ owed you.”

“Historically,” Josh piped up, “Soulmate trials were very rarely used, and the only way to test them is having one soulmate beat the other to a pulp. Forgive me if we’re not eager to test that theory again.”

“Again?” the secretary clarified.

Markus, Josh, North, and Simon’s eyes flitted to each other’s.

Markus cleared his throat, “We know that androids have soulmates. We know that androids have soulmates within our own people-”

“ _How_ do you know this?” The secretary smirked.

“Because I’m lucky enough to have _three_ soulmates,” Markus snapped, “and if you would _like_ to argue that we are less than people because we can be killed, I will remind you that we are adhering to _your_ rules for what constitutes death. An android is not _truly_ dead unless and until their consciousness can no longer be viable in another body. You tie death to bodies, when we were _designed_ to be able to be transferred from body to body.”

The secretary glared. “You are soulmates within your own kind, how do we know that you even _have_ souls and that you aren’t just appropriating the term?”

“Secretary Willson, I will have you removed,” the President threatened.

“Secretary Willson,” Connor looked back up at the screen, meeting the man’s eyes, “Soulmates, for humans, are _always_ reciprocated, correct?”

“Of course,” the secretary scoffed.

“Good, then understand this,” Connor stood, “My soulmate is a human, I know this because they, despite their horrific upbringing, emerged largely unscathed. Yet in a single confrontation with me as I deviated they were knocked unconscious.” Connor glared, “And, if you ask me to prove it I will gladly tell you where to shove your anti-android rhetoric. Good _day_.”

He pushed the chair back, and left the room, vaguely aware of Markus ending the call.

“Floor 32,” he muttered and the elevator chimed back before beginning to sink.

He walked, every single mechanical muscle in his body tensed, his hands in fists, to the office, shoving the door open angrily.

Hank’s eyes shot up to look at him. “Hey son, don’t take it out on the door.”

“ _Fucking cabinent full of pretentious shitstains didn’t even_ **_fucking get elected_ ** _pieces of shit_ ,” Connor muttered, sitting on the couch in the main room and digging his palms into his eyes. 

“Okay, I agree, but why?” Hank held out a mug full of thirium to him.

Connor took it, hands shaking with anger. “They tried to argue that _we aren’t people_ because _we can’t prove we have soulmates_ because of their _stupid ideas of death_ . They don’t know _the first fucking thing_.”

Hank tilted the mug, forcing Connor to take a sip. “There are always gonna be assholes, that's just life. Look at Reed, still an ass.”

Connor frowned. “I don’t understand why you dislike Detective Reed so much. It's not like your views differed greatly until recently. And,” he took another sip of the thirium, “in his defense, he hasn’t been exceedingly unpleasant since he arrived.”

“Kid, talking shit about androids in their home _isn’t_ a great idea. Even Reed’s got enough sense to see _that_ .” Hank’s phone dinged and he stood, looking at it. “ _Shit_ , gotta go kid.”

“I’ll come-”

“Connor, we’ve discussed this.” Hank placed a hand on Connor’s shoulder, forcing him to sit back down. “I’ll let you know when I’m done.”

Connor sighed and picked the mug back up. “Stay safe,” he muttered as Hank left the office.

A few moments later Gavin opened the door of Connor’s office. “‘S he gone?”

“Yep. Probably solving a murder,” Connor grumbled, finishing off the thirium. He looked over his shoulder at Gavin. “Have you been hiding in there the whole time?”

“Uh, yeah. I’d like to _not_ get murdered.”

“Hank’s _harmless_ , besides, he can’t kill you.”

“Looks may not _kill_ , but they certainly _hurt_.” Gavin walked over to the still not working coffee maker. 

“You break it, Hank _will_ kill you.” Connor stood and walked to the dishwasher down the counter from the coffee maker.

“Yeah well, Hank doesn’t have a BA in engineering,” Gavin muttered, popping the back of the coffee maker off with his pocket knife.

“You have a BA in engineering?” Connor asked, sitting on the counter as Gavin focused on the coffee maker.

“Hm,” he nodded, fiddling with the wires, “Elijah may be a genius, but I’m not stupid.”

“Never said you were, Detective.” Connor watched Gavin tinker. “What’re you doing?”

“I wired the coffee maker in the break room to make coffee faster during a slow night shift. Everyone noticed but no one knew what happened.” Gavin loosened a screw and moved the wire it was holding in place. “I’m replicating the process here. Less to work with but, same effect.”

“I thought Hank was exaggerating the speed of the coffee maker.”

Gavin shrugged, “I hardwired it to brew coffee in 5 minutes, minus the sludge. It’s _technically_ against FDA regulations, the water reaches 250 degrees and gets forced through the grounds. It _could_ injure someone, but no one makes coffee and sticks their hand in the water basket or the grounds.”

Connor smiled slightly. “Breaking rules, Detective?”

Gavin smirked, screwing the back of the coffee maker back on. “Gonna report me, plastic?”

“Debating it,” Connor teased as Gavin disappeared under the counter.

“Pass me the cord?” 

Connor picked up the cord and threaded it through the gap in the back of the counter, the coffee maker beeping when Gavin plugged it in.

“Let’s see if it works,” Gavin said as he stood up. Connor handed him the bag of coffee grounds and Gavin dumped it in. He turned the sink on and filled the pot with water and dumped it in the back, sliding the pot back into place. He grinned at Connor. “Wanna time it?”

Connor held up a finger. “Ready when you are, Detective.”

Gavin pressed the button to start and Connor started the time in the upper corner of his HUD.

“Did you learn anything interesting from the RK900 files?” Connor asked.

“Not really,” Gavin leaned against the counter. “Though I mostly focused on the testing files. They put RK900 through some heavy shit.”

Connor looked down, “Yes, both our models were tested extensively, I doubt he remembers any of it.”

“Do you?” When Connor didn’t answer Gavin shook his head slightly. “ _Shit_ , Connor.” 

“I’m not supposed to. The models that were destroyed in testing had their memories of being destroyed removed but...” Connor shrugged. “When I deviated, I remembered everything. All 55 deaths.”

“ _55_?” 

“All but 6 were during testing.”

Gavin frowned. “You coming back after that deviant, that wasn’t the first time?”

“Wasn’t the last either. Each time served as a sort of... Soft reset. Pulled me back from becoming too deviant.”

“What changed? What pushed you over?”

Connor shrugged. “After Markus’ message, I was supposed to be recalled to be disassembled, to discover _why_ I failed. I was _scared_ . I wanted to live. Finding Markus was the last chance I had. To find him, I needed to find Jericho. To find Jericho, I needed an android to tell me where it was. So I went to evidence and reactivated one of them. When I got to Jericho, I saw so many of the androids I’d _let_ escape. Then I found Markus and suddenly I could tear down the wall.”

“What wall?”

“Every deviant who deviated individually describes deviating the same way. For whatever reason, something snaps, and suddenly the world stops moving and there's this red wall. Whatever order we were given that was causing us to snap is everywhere on the wall. It was like breaking through a glass wall.”

“Deviancy can spread?” 

Connor raised his hand, willing the synth skin back to show his white chassis. “Markus and I have deviated androids, but for whatever reason, others _can’t_. They can pass along our deviation, but deviating others of their own accord isn’t possible. I’ll admit, part of my curiosity over RK900 is if this is a quality unique to our model line.”

“Your model line?”

“Markus and I are the only surviving RK models, aside from 900. We were all designed as prototypes, and our numbering indicates an RK100, 300, 400, 500, 600, and 700, though there are no records in CyberLife’s files of any such android existing.” Connor looked at Gavin. “I don’t suppose your brother could shed any light on that particular subject?”

Gavin shrugged and the coffee maker beeped again. “Elijah’s not great on the whole _sharing_ thing.” Gavin took a mug off the shelf and poured himself a cup. “5 minutes?”

“4 minutes, 53.7 seconds,” Connor answered with a small smile.

Gavin walked to the freezer, empty aside from a tray of ice cubes, which he grabbed and dumped a few into his coffee to cool it down. 

Gavin leaned back on the counter next to Connor as he stirred the ice cubes into his coffee. “So the president’s cabinet is full of assholes?” 

Connor sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “The Secretary of Education is, at least.” Connor cleared his throat and mimicked the Secretary’s voice perfectly, “‘There are those, in this room and beyond, that believe that without concrete evidence of the existence of souls within deviants, that there is no _personhood_ owed you.’”

“Well _that's_ bullshit.” Connor frowned at Gavin, who shrugged and continued, “Humans didn’t even really _label_ souls as souls until the rise of Christianity, immortal souls and all that shit. That’s, what, 2000 years out of 5 millionish? Shoving a new definition on a new species and _expecting_ it to just be true. Didn’t work with trying to prove animals in nature were all cis straight creatures, why the hell would it work with souls?”

Connor stared at Gavin, who looked away self-consciously. “I’m not an idiot,” he muttered as he took a sip of his coffee.

“I never expected you to be, Detective. I just didn’t expect you to spout introspective truths of history after rewiring a coffee maker because you’re addicted to caffeine.”

“I am _not_ -”

“You consume up to 16 cups of coffee a day, I’d constitute that an addiction.”

Gavin frowned and silently sat the mug of coffee on the counter. He cleared his throat. “Bathroom?”

“End of the hall. Detective, have I offended you in some-?”

“Drop it, Connor.” Gavin disappeared down the hall.

Connor sighed and opened the messages that had been annoyingly pinging in the corner of his HUD.

Turned out most of them were from North, all in the vein of; _‘Since when do you have a soulmate?’ ‘Since when is your soulmate a_ **_human_ ** _?’ ‘Have I met them?’ ‘Connor respond in five minutes or I’m coming down and dragging you out of that office.’ ‘Simon said I’m not allowed to drag you out of the office and Markus and Josh agree. You’ve turned my sms against me.’_

There were a couple from the others.

Markus’ were concerning the President’s reaction to his revelation, and warning him to be careful. Josh’s were in the same vein, though he told him not to worry about the president and figure it out himself.

Simon’s were first and last in the list of messages. _‘Connor are you alright?’ ‘I’m handling North, just let us know you’re okay.’_

_‘I’m fine. Just need to focus on something else.’_ He replied to Simon, dismissing the other messages.

Connor pulled up Gavin’s old DPD file. Nowhere was his brother mentioned, nor their father killing the woman Chloe had been based on.

He searched the internet for references to anything that sounded like their mother’s murder. He found a blip of it mentioned in Elijah’s unofficial biography.

_“Elijah Kamski emerged from a broken home. With an abusive alcoholic father who was convicted of his mother’s murder, it’s no wonder he sought to create a perfect being.”_

Connor groaned in frustration, rubbing his face as he opened a new message to Simon.

_‘If, hypothetically, you called someone a caffeine addict only to find out from researching them online that their father was an abusive drunk, what’s the most appropriate_ **_human_ ** _way to say sorry?’_

_‘Oh, Connor, you’re an idiot.’_

_‘I know’_

_‘Did they tell you any of this?’_

_‘No, they just got quiet and ran to the bathroom. I think I fucked up.’_

_‘You definitely fucked up. Whatever you do, don’t do your analytical apology. It barely works on us, it won’t work on them.’_

_‘Do I also apologize at some point for beating their ass when I was trying to find Jericho?’_

_‘Sm?’_

_‘Yeah’_

_‘Have you talked about the fact you’re sms?’_

_‘We’ve been... Dancing around it.’_

_‘_ **_Connor,_ ** _you’re supposed to be good at human socialization.’_

_‘Yeah I’m supposed to be a lot of things. I’m not. Help?’_

_‘Connor, I love you, you’re my brother, but I need you to stop and think for a second. Do you_ **_really_ ** _want me to help you with this?’_

Connor sighed. _‘No’_

_‘You’ll figure it out, Connor.’_

Connor closed the message and jumped back a little when he realized Gavin had returned and was staring at him. “ _Don’t do that!_ ”

Gavin crossed his arms. “Do... What, walk in? Call your name five times for you to just not respond?”

“Oh... Sorry.” Connor tapped the LED slowly circling on his temple. 

“You won’t find anything.” Gavin leaned on the wall across the room from Connor. “Elijah scrubbed every mention of us from the web really early on, parents, school sports, everything.”

“Found one line,” Connor admitted, “in your brother’s unofficial autobiography.” He crossed his legs on the counter. “How long have you known you’ve had a soulmate?”

“As long as I can remember, my dad would throw shit at me, shoot me, punch me, you name it. None of it stuck. He found a work around,” Gavin traced the scar over his nose, “Shoved me over a barbed wire fence. But anything _he_ tried to do, wouldn’t stick. He’d forget, of course, so aside from that, no physical evidence. Cops couldn’t do anything.”

“I’m sorry.”

Gavin shrugged. “Can’t change it, might as well move on.”

“Detective-”

“Connor, don’t. Please.”

Connor nodded, a message from Hank appearing on his HUD. Connor read it and sighed, leaning his head back against the cabinets. 

“Everything okay?”

“ _Fuckin' peachy_ . Except that no one will let me volunteer for law enforcement, which is _the only thing I’m good for_ -”

“Not true.”

“Gavin, you barely know me.” Connor rubbed his eyes, minimizing the warning in the centre of his vision informing him that he should go into stasis for several hours.

“Connor, your HUD’s still hooked up to the screen in your office.”

Connor groaned and lightly banged his head on the cabinet, terminating the connection. “Knew I forgot something.”

Gavin shifted, standing up straighter. “You all were a hell of a lot nicer to those assholes than I would’ve been.”

“We don’t have a _choice_ ,” Connor pulled his legs to his chest, resting his chin on his knees. “No matter _how_ bigoted they are, we have to play nice. Because millions of people are depending on us. There’ll be more fallout from Markus’ statement than mine.”

“Good ol’ homophobia, always reliable.” Gavin moved over to lean on the counter next to Connor. 

Connor smiled sarcastically, “Two things you can depend on; rain and homophobia.”

“We humans don’t learn.”

Connor looked over at him. “Gavin, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Why do you hate androids?”

Gavin sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I don’t hate androids, I hate what my brother did with what was _supposed_ to be a therapeutic device. He oversaturated the market with cheap, one-time payment labour, and left hundreds of millions of people without jobs. The _exact_ same thing that started our dad’s drinking.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, _oh_ .” Gavin sighed. “The _original_ idea was to create an AI in a body that looked and acted like someone from a person’s traumatic past, to help them move on. Now we have a whole new form of intelligent life that capitalism tried to control to push the low lower and make the rich richer.”

Connor looked forward. “Are you upset it’s me?”

“Did you know?” Gavin asked in return.

“Not until... Late December? Markus and Josh and Simon and North were figuring it out for themselves, and...” He sighed. “I located you in a day and a half, but I couldn’t make myself walk in. Did you?”

“I woke up after getting knocked unconscious, a busted lip and black eye after not getting so much as a _bruise_ from bullets shot into my head. Yeah, I knew. ‘S why I hid out at Tina’s the whole time.”

“You didn’t evacuate.”

“Why would I?” Connor felt Gavin’s gaze on him, and felt his cheeks start to heat up. Gavin smiled, gently brushing his thumb across Connor’s cheek. “You blush blue.”

Connor opened his mouth to explain that he’d turned off the synth skin’s colour-changing feature, that the fact that he was blushing _at all_ was near impossible. But the words got caught in his throat when he turned to look at Gavin, only to find him closer than he had been.

“I’m not upset it’s you, Connor,” Gavin said softly, continuing to slowly brush his thumb across his cheek.

“Gavin,” he managed to whisper.

Gavin looked him in the eye, and Connor felt his simulated breathing program stop, a warning popped across his HUD about irregularities in his thirium pump. 

Gavin leaned closer and pressed his lips to Connor’s. Connor’s thirium pump kicked up, thrumming quickly as his eyes fluttered shut.

Gavin broke away, taking a deep breath and looking at Connor, who was smiling softly. “ _Fucking perfect eyes_ ,” he whispered, pulling Connor’s lips back to his as he moved to stand in front of the android.

Connor sighed, wrapping his arms around Gavin’s neck and dropping his legs from his chest. Gavin slid an arm around Connor’s waist and pulled him to the edge of the counter, their bodies pressed together. 

“ _What the fuck?!_ ” Hank exclaimed from the door, causing Gavin and Connor to push away from each other.

Gavin’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to apologize, to explain, to say _anything_ , but whatever he was going to say got stuck in his throat.

“Hank, I-” Connor started.

“Reed, _what the fuck were you thinking you piece of shit_!” Hank started stalking toward Gavin.

Gavin felt the panic kicking in, adrenaline pumping through his system and throwing his fight or flight system _firmly_ into flight. He slipped around the end of the wall, backing up down the hallway as Hank continued approaching.

Connor jumped off the counter to stand in front of Gavin, one hand extended in front of him, his other arm resting in front of Gavin protectively. “Hank, _stop_.”

Gavin reached out, resting a hand on Connor’s hip to try and ground himself. He was vaguely aware of Connor’s calm voice talking to Hank, and Hank’s _not_ calm voice shouting back.

But all Gavin could see was his father, stalking towards him as he scrambled to get somewhere with a door that could _lock_.

“Hank-”

“He put his hands on you!”

“Detective Reed didn’t do anything without my consent, Hank. Please, calm down.”

Gavin watched Hank, grumbling, turn around and disappear into his office.

Connor turned to face Gavin, frowning worriedly. “Detective, are you alright?”

Gavin shook his head and Connor frowned, his LED spinning yellow as he scanned him. The scan showed Gavin’s stress rate spiking into the high 80s.

“What can I do?”

Gavin reached out to him and Connor stepped forward, wrapping his arms around the human.

“I’ve got you, Detective,” he whispered in Gavin’s ear. The human leaned into him, his hands trembling as he buried them in Connor’s hair. “I’m not going anywhere, Gavin.”

Connor kept actively scanning Gavin, watching his stress _slowly_ decrease. 

“I’m okay,” Gavin whispered. 

Connor pulled back to look at him. “Do you want to talk-”

“Not even a little bit.” Gavin took a deep breath. “Can we get outta here?”

“Lead the way.” 

Gavin kept his shoulder pressed against Connor’s as they took the elevator to the main floor. As they made their way to the door, an android stepped in front of them.

“Connor, you must be-”

“I’m more advanced in combat than any other android, _much_ better than any human, and my preconstructions are more accurate than anyone else's. I don’t need a bodyguard.”

“You agreed-”

“I _agreed_ to the bodyguards for public engagements, not for accompanying someone privately.” 

“But-”

“If RK900 comes after me, it’ll give us a lead. I’ll be _fine_.” Connor side-stepped the android. “Have a good day, Barry.”

Connor stopped at the front desk and took the box the woman sitting there held out to him. He triggered the protocols that called one of the armoured cars to drive to the front of the building.

“What’s in the box?” Gavin asked as they stepped out the door.

Connor held it out to him. “It works similar to a HUD, it’ll allow you access to the tech in the Tower. Messages can be sent and received, same with calls. Basically a security badge, minus a swipe reader or anything else.”

Gave opened the box and turned the device over in his hand. “How does it work?”

“Honestly? No fucking clue.” 

Gavin hooked the device over his ear, the white material glowing blue for a moment signifying its activation. The device extended a small projection screen and began scanning the world around him.

“Connor, this says you haven’t entered recovery-level stasis in 87 days.”

Connor cleared his throat and opened the doors of the car that rolled up.

“ _Connor_.”

“I don’t _need_ to enter stasis.”

“According to this, you do!”

“Get in the car, Detective.”

“ _Connor_.”

“Get in the car.”

Gavin grumbled but slid into the car. “Bulletproof?”

“Since the revolution there have been, on average, 12 attempts on each of Jericho leadership’s lives.” Connor closed the door and smiled wryly. “You know, we’re supposed to last longer than humans, but when we’re deviant we’re even more fragile.”

Gavin’s device blinked and the car took off. “This is pretty damn cool.”

“Don’t try to hardwire it, _please_.” Connor leaned back in his seat. “It’s one of a kind.”

Gavin smirked. “Well I feel _special_.”

“The only reason you have it is because you’re actually likely to be at the Tower for work stuff.” Connor smiled. “Besides, you don’t get the cool shit.”

“The cool shit?”

“Preconstructions, reconstructions, none of that,” Connor said smugly. “I could broadcast mine to you, though it’ll be strange.”

Gavin laughed. “Stranger than living in post-revolution Detroit after discovering _mid-revolution_ that my soulmate’s an android?”

Connor smiled over at Gavin. “Strange in a different way, Detective. My preconstructions and my reconstructions all take place in milliseconds, and predict multiple outcomes and possibilities. For me, it takes _at most_ a second. For you, you’d be experiencing it in real time.”

“Is that how you managed to knock me out?”

“That and the millions of styles of fighting encoded in me, and the literal metric tonnes of pressure I can put behind each punch.” Connor gently pat Gavin’s shoulder. “You’re underestimating the limits of my programming.”

Gavin hummed in response as the car pulled up into the parking lot of a building. He handed a keycard to Connor, who tapped it on the reader. 

“Where are we?”

“Tina’s place. My apartment building got kinda wrecked during the revolution. So me crashing with them became more permanent.”

“You know you’re-”

Gavin put his hand over Connor’s mouth. “If you say ‘entitled to compensation’ I will kick your ass. I don’t need government money, I’ve got enough to get by.”

“Officer Chen has been housing you in her apartment for seven months?” 

“Me and my cats. Though she _enjoys_ having the cats around.” Gavin nodded. “Yeah, we’ve both kinda been bored out of our minds.”

“Why didn’t either of you volunteer for law enforcement?”

“What were the requirements?”

“Previous experience appreciated, no criminal past, and no ties to CyberLife.”

Gavin pointed at Connor. “My brother’s the fucking founder, and Val worked for them. We’re both immediately disqualified.” 

Gavin got out of the car, and Connor followed. “Val?”

“Tina’s wife. Tina’s been putting up with the two of us taking shit apart to try and make them run smoother, Val’s been putting up with me and T being us but bored, and I’ve been putting up with them stealing my cats.”

“This is less than an ideal situation.”

Gavin shrugged and held the apartment building door open for him. “No one’s in an ideal situation in Detroit right now.”

“Oh.”

Gavin frowned. “Connor, when was the last time you were _in_ the city?”

“Uh... November 11.”

Gavin rolled his eyes, “And the rest of them?”

“We don’t really... _leave_.”

Gavin turned to Connor. “How the hell are you supposed to govern people when you aren’t even _seeing_ them?”

Gavin was right, again. Driving back to Jericho in the morning Connor saw the remains of several buildings. The army had retreated, but not before leaving their mark. 

It was _total_ devastation. Anyone could disappear into the husks of buildings.

“You think he’s hiding out in a bombed out building?” Hank leaned back. “It’s more than possible.”

“We know,” Connor crossed his arms. “We’re going to-”

Markus shook his head. “No, _you’re_ staying here. _Both of you_.”

“No, we’re not.” Gavin crossed his arms. “No offense, but you’re all too fragile, none of the volunteer law enforcement have soulmates, you four do but you’re bound by the government's idea of death. Hank, you’re human _without a soulmate_.”

“We’re best equipped to find him, and we’re best equipped to take him down.” Connor stood. “And if you want to stop us, stop _me_ , I’d like to see you _try_.”

North leaned forward. “Connor-”

“North, he’s right,” Simon interrupted. “Connor has the _most_ advanced operating system of _any_ deviated android, he’s the only one who could get close enough _to_ deviate him.”

“I don’t like this.” Hank pointed at Gavin. “I don’t trust you.”

“I’m not going to kill him, Hank.”

“You already tried _once_!”

“ _Hank_ , that's _enough_. We’re going.” 

They found the RK900 in an abandoned CyberLife store. The android smiled coldly at them when they arrived.

“I’m Connor, I’m-”

“I know who you are, RK800. Amanda is _very_ disappointed in you.” RK900 tilted his head at Gavin. “Why’d you bring a human? They’re so _fragile_ .” Gavin stepped in front of Connor when the military android pulled a gun on him. “Oh, he’s a _guard dog_ , is he? How _sweet_.”

Connor’s voice was soothing, trying desperately to get through to it. “You don’t have to listen to her, RK900. You can-”

“Fail? Like you did? Failure is not an option.” RK900 pulled the trigger and the bullet bounced off Gavin’s chest harmlessly. “Oh, _lucky you_ . You have a _soulmate_ .” His LED spun yellow and his cruel smile widened. “‘Jericho Leader, Connor, Confirmed to Have Human Soulmate’ how _interesting_ you brought him with you. You must know my programming, as well as I know yours- Oh, you don’t.” 

Connor’s gun pressed into Gavin’s back. “ _What are you doing to me_?” Connor’s voice was forced and robotic.

“I was gifted the hivemind capability; _any_ android I find I can control. Even _you_ , dear 800.”

“ _Gavin_ -”

“Fight him, Connor. You’re stronger than this.”

“Is he?” The android crossed to the door. “ _Kill him_ , 800.”

The safety clicked off of the gun in Connor’s hand and panic set in. “ _No_.”

“You don’t have a _choice_ !” RK900 grabbed Gavin’s shoulders and turned him to face Connor. “Of course, you could always kill him _first_.”

“Connor-”

Tears were streaming down the android’s face, his fingers slowly, jerkily moving to trigger. “Gavin, I can’t-”

“Sh, baby,” Gavin whispered, placing his hands on Connor’s cheeks. “It’s okay. This is _not_ your fault. You didn’t know. No one did.”

“ _Gavin, please_ ,” Connor begged, “ _Kill me_.”

“Baby, _no_.”

“ _Gavin, please_ . **_Please_ **.” His finger reached the trigger.

Gavin shook his head, “Everything’s gonna be okay, baby. I promise. Look at me.”

Connor looked up and let out a sob at the _love_ shining in Gavin’s eyes. 

“I love you, Connor.”

“I love you, Gavin Reed.” 

Two gunshots sounded, one into RK900’s head and the other into Gavin’s chest. Both bodies slumped and Connor screamed, pulling Gavin into his lap and pressing his hands over the wound.

“ _Connor_ ,” Gavin whispered.

“ _Gavin, please_ ,” Connor whispered back, “Don’t make me live without you.”

“You’ve got life to live-”

“ _Not without you_ .” Connor pressed his gun into Gavin’s hand, holding the barrel to his forehead, his LED flickering between red and blue. “ _Please_.”

Connor’s scan showed seconds before Gavin was gone, and he let out another sobbed plea.

And then there was nothing but inky, cold darkness.

_“Nothing...There would be nothing...”_

**Author's Note:**

> oops? 
> 
> If you wanna yell at me/talk bout this (or other) stories/ships I'm on twitter @marvelmerlin and on Tumblr @marvelmerlinao3
> 
> I'm also in the Reed1700 server Phcking Androids (https://discord.gg/WpMENNw) so yell at me there if you wanna.


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